


Dancing Across the Sea

by pillowcreek



Category: The Bridge (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Slow Dancing, au where the transcontinental hotel disaster never happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 16:20:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10994538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pillowcreek/pseuds/pillowcreek
Summary: Kate attends a ball, not really expecting to get much out of it. And then she sees a very cute woman across the room.





	Dancing Across the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> I refuse to apologize for all the romance cliches that are in here. You gotta write a cliched fluff story at some point, right? 
> 
> Also another note that this is an AU where the Transcontinental Hotel disaster never happened so it stayed open.

The ballgown was uncomfortable. 

It was too tight across her chest, like the fabric was trying to crush her ribs into sand. It was beautiful, just too tight for comfort. Definitely just a one time wear. 

Kate shifts awkwardly on her feet, trying to find something interesting to look at. The Transcontinental Hotel was beautiful, she couldn’t argue with that, but after 30 minutes or so in the place it no longer invoked the same sense of wonder and amazement that it had in the first 30 seconds. Ooo, tall windows. Ooo, high ceilings. Ooo... 

Cute woman. 

She was small and slight, with light brown skin and dark curls that fell to just above her shoulders. Her dress was a soft blue and fell beautifully around her. No too tight bodice for her. She was looking around the room in wonder, swaying slightly with the music. 

Scrape that. _Very_ cute woman. 

A very cute woman that had just looked over at her. 

Oops. 

Kate pushes down the initial panic at having been caught staring and walks over to the woman calmly, giving her her best charming smile. She’s pleased to notice a light flush on the woman’s cheeks when she reaches her. 

“Hi there.” 

“Um, h-hi,” she responds, flustered. 

“Kate.” 

“Huh? O-Oh! I’m Etta.” 

“That’s a pretty name. Short for anything?” 

“Henrietta. I like Etta better though.” 

“Mm.” She looked like an Etta. “Care for a dance?” 

“Yes please!” 

Kate laughs and holds her hand out for her to take. Etta takes it eagerly and pulls her out onto the floor as the next song begins. Kate rests her hand gently on Etta’s waist, grinning as the other woman bites her lip. Cute. 

She pulls Etta in close to her, swaying gently in time with the music. Etta relaxes after a moment, a smile spreading across her face as they dance. 

“No date?” Kate asks. It was unlikely, as she had been standing on her own, but how could a woman this beautiful not be taken? 

Etta shakes her head. “I’m only here because my mother managed to score an invite through her work.” 

“Oh? Where’s she work?” she asks, expecting her to respond with the name of a fancy company on the mainland. A rich girl, out on the Bridge for a quick spot of excitement before returning home to safety again perhaps? 

“Here.” Etta tilts her head up to admire the ceiling, smiling. “I grew up here.” 

“Here? In the hotel?” 

“Mmhm. My mother’s the lead concierge.” 

“Oh. Wow.” 

She laughs. “Not what you were expecting, right?” 

“You’re not the usual guest at these events, that’s for sure.” 

“Well how about you then?” Etta nudges her. “Are you the _usual_ guest?” 

 _Oh, far from it honey._ “I suppose.” 

“Well, I _suppose_ you can’t help being boring,” she says, a teasing grin spreading across her face. 

Kate laughs. “Oh, so now I’m boring, am I?” 

“Well, maybe not _boring…_ ” 

“Well, is there a way that I can prove to you how very not-boring I am?” 

Etta beams. “I thought you’d never ask.”

* * *

The two of them walk along a small ridge next to the sea, waves crashing against the rocks below them. Etta glances back at her every once in a while, her smile as radiant as the sun. She leads Kate to a path that twists down towards the water and a pier where a couple of boats bob. 

Kate hesitates, not wanting to have to rescue Etta from her own stupidity. “Haven’t you heard the stories?” 

“Hm?” 

“The stories. About the Bridge and the monsters.” 

“Sure I’ve heard them. Everyone’s heard them.” 

“Aren’t you scared?” 

She grins up at her. “No. Are you?” 

Kate starts down the path after her. “Of course not.” 

Etta laughs brightly, picking her way down the path carefully. It took them a few minutes, but before long they reached the small flat pier meant for the boats’ crews to disembark. Etta wasn’t looking at Kate though: instead, her gaze was fixed firmly on the horizon, calmly watching the waves. The sea was a little too turbulent for Kate’s comfort but Etta seemed completely at home. It was like she didn’t even notice the water splashing over the edge of the pier. 

Kate watches her silently for a minute before speaking. “Do you still live out here?” 

“Not anymore,” she replies, still not looking at her. “I had to go to the mainland for university.” 

“What, they can build an amusement park in the middle of the ocean but not a university?” 

“That was a terrible idea,” Etta mutters. 

“Probably could be fixed with an ocean university. Get rid of all the shitty Bridge ideas.” 

“Or breed more of them.” 

“So just like any other university, huh?” 

She’s rewarded with a laugh from Etta and a quick glance over. “I take it you’re not a scholar?” 

“I like research, I just don’t like the mind moulding.” 

“Hm, I guess I see your point.” 

They settle back into a comfortable silence, broken only by the sound of the ocean and the faint music drifting down from the ballroom. 

“Why were you watching me?” 

Kate looks over at her. “What?” 

“Back in the ballroom, before you asked me to dance. You were watching me. Why?” 

“You really wanna know?” 

“Yes.” 

“I was thinking about how cute you looked,” she says with a small smirk. 

Etta flushes. “You were?” 

“Mmhm.” 

“Oh. Well in that case, I think I owe you a dance invite.” 

“I mean, I’m not complaining, but why exactly do you “owe” me this?” 

She grins, holding out her hand to Kate. “Because I was thinking the same thing but about how gorgeous you are.” 

Kate laughs and takes her hand. “Alright then.” 

The music from the ballroom switches over to a slow song, quieting slightly. Kate pulls the other woman close to her and gently rests her forehead against hers. Etta’s smile softens and she wraps her arms around Kate’s neck. They move slowly, careful not to rock the pier too much. Kate can feel her heart beating in her throat, can feel Etta’s hair tickling her cheek and the warmth of her skin against her neck. 

It was perfect. 

It was like her mind was simultaneously moving too fast and too slow. She was bouncing from feeling to feeling, thought to thought, so quickly. From how nice Etta felt pressed against her - because she did, she felt amazing - to how this would all be coming to an end soon, that she didn’t even know how to reach her, whether she would ever get to see her again after tonight. But she also had time to appreciate every second, every slight flutter of Etta’s lashes, how her smile quirked slightly as she stumbled on an uneven plank but remained upright because of Kate’s arms around her waist. Her wonderful, wonderful waist. 

It seemed that Etta was also getting wrapped up in her own thoughts, because before too long they were just standing in one spot, swaying gently together. Kate slowly tilted her head down so that her nose was lightly pressed against her cheek before murmuring quietly, “Can I kiss you?” 

She doesn’t get a verbal response. Instead, Etta tilts her chin up and presses their lips together, her eyes closing shut as she does so. Kate does the same, lifting one hand to gently hold onto her cheek as they kissed. Etta moves closer to her as she does so, smiling and accidentally biting down gently on Kate’s lip. She giggles and mumbles a quick sorry before moving back in for the kiss. The sound of her laughter causes Kate’s heart to shoot up into her throat with joy, her eyes scrunching up as she tries to keep in her own laughter but is unable to. 

Etta pulls back, laughing. “I’m sorry.” 

“No, no, it’s fine.” 

All of her willpower flies out the window and her knees go weak as Etta buries her face in her neck. “That was really good,” she mumbles. 

“Mm. You wanna do it again?” 

Kate can feel the grin against her throat. “Absolutely.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me on tumblr @pillowcreeks


End file.
